


Signs

by BabblingBrook144



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: American Sign Language, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Finding ways to speak, Fluff and Smut, Headcannon Quiet would totally love ASL, Kaz cant find out about this, Language, Sneaky Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-25 23:37:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20034223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabblingBrook144/pseuds/BabblingBrook144
Summary: Quiet has sworn herself to a vow of silence, but Boss wants to find a way to break that silence. He hopes to introduce her to American Sign Language (ASL).





	Signs

**Author's Note:**

> This has been a long headcannon in my head where Quiet and Boss like to secretly talk to each other using ASL. I have a beginner's knowledge of the language and Ive always loved it.  
This story will follow along with the main story. And it will be told mostly in the perspective of Venom Snake. It will be a couple of chapters long. Please let me know what you think. I love comments and feedback.

Chapter 1: The Seed

There was nowhere to hide. The sandstorm was his only defense. He could barely hear the shouting of angry Soviet soldiers over the roaring wind. They were looking for him. He was being hunted down. Just before being spotted during his mission, the sandstorm couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment. He was able to disappear in the blooms of sand and make a run for it. Perhaps he could seek shelter until the storm past and try again at his objective. The sand was blasting at his face, rendering his one eye blind. The wind was whipping at 40 mph, tossing his momentum off. He had to seek shelter fast.

Planting his feet firmly into the soft sand, Venom Snake tried to keep a straight line for the camp’s neighboring cliff side. If he recalled, there was a small series of tunnels hidden within. That was probably his only option to wait out the storm in safety. Only by sheer luck and willpower was he able to find the mouth of a deep cave.

Once safely inside, he opened his iDroid and scanned for his companion’s marker. He was beginning to regret bringing Quiet on this mission. Since starting the mission there had been two sandstorms already, this one was by far was the worst. The poor girl hated weather like this. And according to the radar, this storm is the biggest one yet, which in turn, meant no communication with Mother Base at least until the storm past.

Venom furrowed his brow when he could see Quiet’s marker dancing around his virtual map, she was running through the storm. By the looks of it, she was panicking. Her triangle was zigzagging across the grid. Quickly he pinged his location and hoped she would be able to see it.

“Quiet!” He shouted on his intercom, “On me!” Hoping she might be able to hear him over the static of their radios.

No response. Her marker had stopped. She had stopped near some red markers. Shit.

Between the whistling of the cave and the storm outside, he could hear some distant pops of gunfire. Was she engaging the enemy? Had she run into them on accident looking for shelter?

Her green icon fishtailed and began sprinting towards his direction. Looks like she got the notification, she was on his coordinates within seconds. She came through the entrance of the cave like a blur and came barreling into Venom. The two of them tumbled further into the cave, away from the wind and the suffocating spray of sand.

Snake groaned, he got the wind knocked out of him. “Well that’s one way to leave a hot zone.” He commented. Quiet got off of him, a fiery look on her face. Her hands were trembling. She looked beyond frustrated with this weather. She huffed off to one sections of this small dark cave and sat down. Clearly she wanted to be left alone. She violently shook herself off, like a wet pup. Layers of sand fell of her.

So far this mission was going terribly. The series of sandstorms had fucked up their various plans of attack. Plus there was the issue of being spotted and triggering a firefight.

Snake went to work on his iDroid and studied the map. Over the corner of his eye he could see Quiet struggling with something. He blinked and suddenly a metal canteen came flying at the wall next to him. Quiet had thrown it with an enraged cry, the damn thing created a carter in the rocky wall. The sniper curled herself up into a ball, she was struggling to keep her cool. Her hands couldn’t stop trembling.

Picking up the canteen, Venom noticed that it had a bullet hole in the bottom. And worst of all, it was empty. Snake really didn’t understand her biology but if he were to guess the poor girl’s parasites were probably driving her crazy. No sun, and the sand was drying her up. They had been out here for hours putting up with this bullshit weather. It was no wonder the sniper was grouchy.

After taking a sip to rinse out the sand from his mouth, he took a long draw from his own full canteen. He could feel her eyes all over him. He could feel the hunger in her stare. He smirked. He had every intension of giving her the rest of his canteen, however he wanted to try something. It had been something he’s been wanting to try for awhile. In this moment, with a storm trapping them, communication done with Mother Base so there was zero chances of Kaz or Ocelot interrupting them, it was just him and her.

They had been on a handful of missions together at this point. She had more than earned her stay with Diamond Dogs. She was loyal to a fault, and a damn fine soldier in the field. However, they’re personal relationship…..he may only have one eye, but he’s not blind to her obvious advances. Her lingering stares, her insistent behavior to bath together in her shower, and her menacing repetitive “stretching” in the helicopter. This woman was advancing on him, she was knocking on his door and she was waiting for an answer. But there in lays Snake’s problem. He didn’t know how to answer. Not in a way that would work for both of them. It would be too easy to answer, to speak his mind about how he felt. That response sounded unfair. She was speaking with her body because she refused to use her words. Talking with her would feel like a one sided conversation and probably piss her off. He had to try to speak with her another way. About a week ago he figured out the solution. And he was ready to prove himself, in this small moment they had together.

He jostled the canteen in her direction. Like a thirsty pup, she crawled over to his side and took a swipe for it. But Venom pulled it back. With his fleshy hand he held up 3 fingers each separate apart, forming a W. He then tapped his pointer finger to his lips. “If you need water from me, do this.” He eyed her, he clutched the canteen close to his chest.

He could see the wheels turning in her head. She kept glancing between his eyes and then at his fingers, and then at her own. Her own trembling hands, her face contorted in an odd manner. It was clear to Boss that Quiet has a stigma against verbally expressing herself. The woman refused to speak or even write. Not because she can’t, but because she won’t. She has stubbornly kept quiet. Big Boss believes that it was her own vow of silence. As to the origins of said vow, Boss couldn’t figure out why. At first he feared even getting her to communicate with sign language would be too much. It might violate her vow, her refusal to express herself. The last thing he wanted was for her to be furious with him. However one detail about her that made Boss confidant that this would work is that she does express herself, a lot. She communicates through her body. Those “stretches” she performs in the helicopter are not just because she needs to loosen up before a mission. She was hungry for his attention, she was struggling to find a way to “speak” with him. She really wants to speak with him. But it seemed even she didn’t know how. American Sign Language felt like the best option at this point. A compromise of language and physicality.

Finally after a few seconds, she repeated back his gesture. Her face was unreadable. Boss hinted a small smile with his scarred lips and handed over her reward. Immediately she drained the whole canteen over her head. She moaned rather loudly as her skin sucked up its fill. She allowed some water to wash away the sand in her hair and caked on her face. Venom couldn’t help but stare as streams ran down the line of her jaw, past her neck and to the curves of her breasts. A clean trail of her skin was left in its wake. It was far from her showers back in her cell, but it was always amazing to see water glisten against her skin as she drank.

“You sure were thirsty. I know it can’t be easy on you, this storm.”

Quiet shook the last few droplets free from the canteen, she nodded at Boss.

Snake held up his hand once again, making a fist and gestured as if knocking on a door, “This means ‘yes’.” He then moved his fingers to make like a new sign, “And this means ‘no’.”

She stared at him intently, clutching his canteen, unmoving.

A week ago, Venom picked up a book on American Sign Language from Mother Base’s tiny library. He studied the first few lessons in his down time. He demonstrated a few more signs. Simple words like ‘please, thank you, sorry, dinner, dog, man, woman, gun’. All the while, Quiet was staring and studying his fingers. However she refused to copy him again. She wasn’t disinterested, like when he tried to shove a pencil and paper in her face to get her to write. Boss could see the gears turning behind her eyes and her pupils were gleaming with light.

“And this one means ‘fuck you’”, Snake brushed the back of his fingers under his chin and gestured outwards.

Quiet let out a tiny chuckle. It was one of her rare giggles. It was a sound only for him. He had never seen her giggle for anyone else.

Venom’s chest swelled, he felt prideful. “Of course, I like this one. I’m pretty sure this one is more universal.” He flipped her his middle finger, warranting another giggle.

‘The weather will clear shortly’ announced Boss’s iDroid. And with that the moment was over. He was satisfied with their little moment. Quiet didn’t seem to outright object to the idea of using ASL. He had planted his seed, now he just had to be patient to see if it will take root. If not, it was back to the drawing board to figure out how to “speak” with Quiet.

Like a switch, Boss snapped back into mission mode. The Soviets outside will be on alert but the storm would have them a bit disorganized. They had a small window to work with, they had to move now. Saddling up their equipment, they headed out of the mouth of the cave.

But before they could leave the cool shade, Quiet turned to Boss and extended out her arm to return him his canteen. Once he clipped it back to his belt, she placed her four fingers against the point of her chin and extended it to him, the sign for ‘thank you’ that he had just taught her. Her smile was genuine, and it was the widest he had ever seen it.


End file.
